Tag: writing well

Ever say this to yourself? Damn if I do. In fact, I had a rather nasty episode with this kind of thinking not too long ago that left me quite depressed and I was a hair-breath away from just trashing my entire novel. And I mean deleting it off my hard drive and making the four drafts and two years of hard work just disappear. Gone… just like that. Yeah, it was not a good day.

Thankfully, I resisted the urge and closed my computer and walked away instead. I would have really hated myself later if I’d actually gone through with it. And it’s a sad thing to admit… that wasn’t the first day I felt like that.

It comes and goes. There are times where I’m writing and I feel like I’m Steven King or J.K. Rowling and my stuff is super awesome! And then there are days where I feel like a fifth grader can do better than the crap I put out. Writing is nothing, if not an emotional roller coaster. Somedays I even wonder why I do it, but most days I’m smart enough to realize that without my writing — whether it be good, bad, or somewhere in between — I wouldn’t have nearly as a fulfilling life.

Obsession. It’s a word that many people view in a negative context. Probably because it’s a singling out of one thing that usually gives imbalance to a well-rounded life style. But really, who actually lives a well-balanced lifestyle? So then, why even think of an obsession as a bad thing? In fact, many who have entered into this heightened state are usually the ones who actually get things done. Dictionary.com defines obsession as “the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, ect.” Sounds to me like a the exact place a writer needs to be.

I have always heard that it’s important to listen to the story, the characters, and the plot in any piece as it’s being written. To let these things be the guidelines for how a story is developed. For the most part I do try to do this, but in the case of a specific story, I did not heed these words of wisdom. In doing so, I created a lot of heartache and work for myself that I could of otherwise avoided.